Chapter 9 -Act I- Acolytes and HoloDramas
Korriban, as Louise had seen, was quite beautiful during the dusk. To some, the presence of man-eating monsters or treacherous tombs would be off-putting and detract from the beauty of the world.
Currently, she as sitting atop a small plateau, just over half way up one of the divides of the Valley. By her side was a dismantled blaster, the one she had acquired during her trial. An interesting piece of technology, if she said so herself. Unlike the unruly muskets and pistols, blasters were much more refined. It was standard issue, made for the officers of the Empire; a modified variant of the K-313 series. Currently, it was dismantled for training purposes. An exercise to try and fine tune her telekinesis.
To an outside observer, she may have looked as if she was meditating, but they would be wrong. Instead, she was thinking. Louise had found this place specifically for that reason, to get away from the noise of the Academy, a haven from the expectations thrust upon her.
It had been three weeks since she had gone on her trial. Tomorrow would be the day that it officially ends. She could safely say she was pleased with her current progress in the Academy. Though, that also brought up things she did not want to think about; only one can become the Apprentice, the others would die.
So, instead of thinking about that and another unsavoury topic she dreaded to think about, she turned to something that had been bothering her since her trial: Homesickness.
If her calculations were correct, it had been nearly an entire year since the Springtime Familiar Summoning, and it certainly felt like it. Louise would be lying if she said that she did not feel homesick at all; she had tried to keep thoughts of home to a minimum, only thinking about it when comparing it to the wider galaxy she found herself in. But since the talk a few weeks ago, with Lyira, her mind drifted more and more to thoughts of home.
How was everyone? She would ask herself at night.
It was a difficult question to answer, but one that was growing increasingly important as the days wore on. She missed her sisters, Cattleya especially. She missed the calm non-life-threatening aspects of the Academy of Magic, part of her even missed the insults and jeers, just because they were not aimed at a horrible part of her life.
Louise knew that her classmates would be happy, able to go to class without worrying about being exploded. The Academy would have calmed down, and new furniture and windows would not need to be bought or made. The books in the library would see less use. They would get rid of her dorm, liquidating her possessions.
The Crowns response would be an investigation; the scion of a noble house was missing and presumed dead. Perhaps her childhood friend, Princess Henrietta, would hear about it. Then again, it had been so long since they had last seen each other, she might be told, but it would just be another face on the street to her.
Her family's reaction was the most heartbreaking to imagine. Cattleya, well she worried for her; worried that her sudden absence would negatively affect her beloved sister.
Éléonore was confusing to think about, along with the rest of her family. Truly, she could not try and imagine their reaction besides silent shock; grief or relief, she could not say, but shock would be there.
Despite the homesickness, Louise knew it was not meant to be. The Sith was her home now, whether she liked it nor not; either become Sith or die. That was the rule of her life at this point.
Briefly, she thought about how Lord Zash would treat her. She had never met the woman, only seen a few scant pictures of her, so she had no idea what type of person the Lord was. Would the Sith belittle her for her former slave status?Probably not. She asked for slaves specifically. Would Zash treat her like Juyn did Rayne, or would she want to destroy her master like Malora did hers?
Life on Halkeginia seemed so simple compared to now. Where most students worried about their potential suitors or grades, Louise was worrying about whether she would die during her next trial or if she would have a kind master.
Another shiver cascaded throughout her body, causing the pinkette to scrunch herself up in an attempt to conserve body heat. A brief conflict battled through her mind; to enter the Academy and get warm, or to stay and relax. Deciding to go for the third unknown choice, Louise pushed herself up from the ground and began collecting any material that seemed flammable.
After a quick sweep of the immediate area around her, she managed to find a single bush that looked dead enough. Soon, the pinkette had a small pile of twigs in prime condition to start a fire. A snap of her fingers, a flash of purple lightning and quick use of the Force, and the miniature campfire was lit; a technique she would have to thank Lyira for. No longer would she have to generate a flame from nothingness.
Sitting back in the seiza position, Louise began to seep into a meditative trance, but before she could, a beeping sound pulled her back. Recognising the sound for what it was, the pinkette plucked her datapad from her belt, checking her mail.
'Lyira – We need to get a holocommunicator.' Read the title, causing a slight chuckle to escape her mouth. Acolytes were mostly stuck using the mail system to contact others, which in itself was quite easy, but it made general chatting tedious. 'Where are you at?'
'Why?' Louise replied, having been told that a quick and concise replied was the best for these types of conversations.
After a few seconds, a response came through, 'Nah, just wanna talk.'
Louise paused her fingers from typing out her answer. She really did not want others seeing her hidey-hole. Then again, it is Lyira. Deciding to through caution to the wind, she wrote back, 'Walk outside the Academy and look right. Look up around that area and you will see me or a light.'
'Okay, be right there.' Came the reply a few seconds later. After another short passage of time, Louise could see a curious acolyte walk out of the Academy, looking around in her general direction before typing on something she assumed was a datapad, 'What are you going up there?'
'Relaxing. Care to join?' She answered.
'Got food?' Lyira asked.
At the reminder of food, her stomach growled. Now feeling quite hungry, Louise replied with a hasty, 'Nope.'
'Be right back.' The curious acolyte stepped back inside, probably off to get some food in the messages previous were any indication. Clipping her datapad back onto her belt, Louise decided to meditate to pass the time, focusing on fuelling the flame so it would not burn out.
An indeterminate amount of time later, and she was brought out of her trance by someone poking her cheek. "Continue doing that, and you will lose that finger," Louise warned, sensing who the interloper was.
"Someone's grumpy." Grumbled her roommate, removing the finger from the petite girl's cheek. The sound of someone flopping on the ground could be heard, as well as the sound of a container being opened. The smell of food soon followed.
"What'd you bring?" the pinkette asked, tantalised by the smell.
"Eh, nothing to fancy." Her roommate replied, taking a bite out of a pickled space worm. Looking at the small container, she could see a small variety of foods the Lyira knew they both liked.
"So, how was your day…?" Louise asked, starting off a present conversation as both parties began to talk about their days, what they did, what they wish they did, and so on. Both occasionally taking something to eat. Soon, the conversation turned down a path that she was dreading.
"Louise, something is wrong. I know it." The Sith said in concern, "you haven't been sleeping well, and you have been zoning out randomly."
"Just a little homesick." She answered casually.
"Want to tell me about it?" Lyira asked, shifting closer to the petite girl.
"It's quite personal," Louise replied defensively, subconsciously pulling her arms and legs tighter into herself.
"Says the girl who's seen me in the nude." The pureblood joked.
"Says the girl who's seen me in the nude." Louise rejoined dryly.
"Good point, but still." Lyira said seriously, "I'm your friend. I just want to help you."
"You wouldn't understand." Groused the pinkette.
"Oh really?" Said Lyira sceptically.
"Yes," Louise answered resolutely, wanting desperately for the conversation to end.
"Why not?"
Feeling backed into a corner, Louise exploded, "Because, you still have your family!" She said angrily, "I might never see mine again."
"Lou, let me stop you right there." The Sith said in an unimpressed tone, "I do know what it's like to be without your family; not knowing whether or not they are okay. My mother died during birth, then my father went off to fight in a war that took his life. My sister, who had looked after me when we were alone soon left for the Academy, leaving me alone for a year. I had no idea if I would lose her or not. So, yes, I do know what it's like to be without family."
"I'm sorry," Louise whispered, embracing the Sith in a hug.
"Don't apologise, tell me what's wrong." Lyira implored, her voice laced with concern.
So, Louise, reluctantly, went on and told her about her life. She told her of her family and how they treated her, the kindness of Cattleya, the mean-streak of Éléonore, the sternness of Mother and the disappointment of Father. She told her friend how all her life she had wanted to please her family, but no matter what, it seemed that nothing worked. She told her about her previous Academy, how the students treated her, how the teachers soon lost hope with her.
When questioned about magic, she would say that it was what they called the Force, and how it seemed like she was not sensitive to it. By the time, she had finished, she felt drained; happy that she had gotten it out of her system, and horrible that she had let her weakness show.
"There's more, isn't there?" Lyira asked, sensing that it was not over.
"More? What do you mean, more?"
"It's not just the homesickness that's getting to you." She explained, "What else is?"
"I-"
Making a leap of faith, Lyira asked, "Is it about me?"
The pinkette looked up at her roommate for a minute, before nodding her head sadly.
"Is there a problem?"
Louise paused for a moment before whispering, "I don't want you to die."
A sigh escaped the Siths mouth, "I won't."
"You don't know that!"
"Calm down." she chided lightly.
"I don't want to lose another person I care about." Whispered Louise, tightening her arms around her friend.
"Another?"
Louise made a sound of confirmation in the back of her throat, "When I was a slave, I made a friend with a Twi'lek, Renv'amor. He was the first one to meet me and comfort me. He even started teaching me Basic. Then, one day, pirates attacked. He died, and I discovered that I was Force Sensitive." She finished dully like she was speaking from a script. The nightmares might have diminished over time, but they happened on the odd occasion.
Lyira drew her friend deeper into the hug, whispering comforts to the girl. Louise allowed it to happen, longing for someone to comfort her as tears began to run. Soon, the comfortable silence was broken by Lyira, "Then let's do something together, nothing dangerous."
"Such as?" The pinkette prompted.
"We could watch a movie," Lyira suggested.
"What's a movie?" Asked Louise, confusion marring her features.
The Sith gave her roommate a strange look as if saying 'what do you mean, what's a movie?' before realisation struck, "Oh, yeah… primitive planet." She said in understanding, "Technically they're called a holodrama, or holomovie, but that's a mouth full, so movie for short. Anyway, the best way to explain it is a holographic play. You do know what a-"
"I know what a play is." The pinkette said, cutting off her roommate, "So, we're watching a play?"
"There's a difference, but you'll find that out later. But, right now," Lyira said, making a move to get up, "let's get some sleep, you look tired."
"Okay."
The next day, Louise woke more refreshed than she had in weeks, though her mood fell when she remembered that today was the last day of their trial, meaning she would be seeing Harkun. Still, wanting to get a few things done before meeting Harkun, the pinkette hopped out of bed. Finding that her roommate was nowhere to be found, she decided to perform her workout routine. In the nude of course.
The routine consisted of meditation, several push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a few katas, then a lap or two around Ajunta Pall's tomb -Clothed of course. By the time she was finished, it was getting close to lunch, which meant that she would need to meet up with Harkun.
A quick jog back to her room, she got changed into a nice outfit, the recreation of the robes Juyn had given her, and grabbed the holocron before setting off the Harkun's office. The walk there was mostly quiet, that is until she ran into Ffon who was heading towards the Overseers office quite quickly.
Louise, not wanting to start an unneeded fight, stayed silent, glowering at him in the corner of her eye. Sadly, it was not meant to be, and Ffon soon noticed her presence.
"Well, well, slave, it appears you didn't die in Marka Ragnos' tomb." The Pureblood said in a mockingly disappointed tone, "How unfortunate. Tell me, did you get the holocron, or are we expecting a little light show today?"
"Ffon," said the pinkette, returning his mocking tone with her own, "you will be disappointed to know, that I did, in fact, get the holocron. How about you, did you manage to translate the texts?" Louise asked, "I mean, translation duty must be a very difficult task if Harkun has you do it. I mean, the Emperor should give you a seat on the Dark Council just completing that extremely tough trial."
"Shut up, slave!" he hissed, turning a corner into Overseer's office. "I'll have you know, that these texts are incredibly important." Louise did not get to replied as Ffon stomped off to be at Harkun's side, shooting the pinkette a particularly venomous glare.
Standing in the room where all the remaining acolytes, the Twins, Gerr, Ffon and Louise herself. Five left. Which means that one of the Acolytes was going to die.
"At least you lot are competent enough to not die during your trials." Harkun drawled, drawing all attention to himself, "Let's get started with the first two; Ffon, Louise, step forwards." He called, gesturing them closer. "You both should have something for me."
In an instant, Ffon had a small datacard in his hand, a victorious smirk playing at his lips, "I have finished these texts for Lord Zash." he said, passing them to Harkun.
"No doubt you have done wonderfully, Ffon." The Overseer praised as one would praise their child for painting a pretty picture, "And what of you?" He said, turning his scowling gaze upon the other acolyte, "You better not be wasting my time."
"The simplest trial I had," Louise responded casually, pulling out the holocron from her belt before handing it to him.
"Don't boast, slave." He hissed, turning the holocron around in his hands, "A fake, or stolen from the library, probably." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the two back in line with the other Acolytes, "Balek, Wydr, step forward. You both have finished your trials, Urinth and Yin were pleased with your work, as much as I don't believe it." he said, his eyes flickering between the two in distaste before landing on a nervous looking Gerr, "Finally, Gerr. forwards" He commanded. The Acolyte obeyed reluctantly, "what of your trial?"
"I found the artefacts," He said, trying to keep his voice steady, "but… the leader still lives." Louise could see fear plain as day in his eyes, and now she knew why.
A feral grin grew across the Overseers' lips, "Well, it looks like for another demonstration." He said, moving around his desk to sit down. Then, as if asking for a beverage or some other benign order, he said, "Ffon, kill him."
Ffon looked stunned briefly, then his expression turned and mirrored Harkun's. His training saber moved from his back to his hand in an instant as he stalked towards the terrified Acolyte. Gerr quickly turned tail to run out of the room but was stopped by a blast of lightning to the back.
Louise desperate wanted to help. To save him from the fate that had befallen acolytes previous, but she could not. To do so was paramount with suicide. So, Louise watch as Ffon began to toy with Gerr, electrocuting him, only to let the man try and run out of the room before he was blasted again. Then it was over. Three strikes with his training saber, and Ffon had killed Gerr.
Sheathing his bloodied weapon, Ffon turned and flashed the pinkette a smirk. In that moment, she knew that the drawn-out death was for her, and her specifically. A fear tactic to scare Louise into submission. However, instead of getting the reaction he had expected, the petite girl returned his smirk with a look of utter contempt.
"Let Gerr be an example to you." Harkun spoke, drawing attention back to him, "Ffon destroyed him easily, just as he will destroy all of you. Any objections?" Louise did not trust herself to speak, so elected to glare quietly at the murderer, "No, well." He grabbed his datapad then began to read from it, "Wydr, you are to assist a Sith Lord with excavating a new area inside Ajunta Pall's tomb. You will find him near the entrance.
"Balek, there is a group of imperials who need assistance with dealing with a pest problem. You will find them near the skycar bay.
"Ffon, Lord Zash has asked for several texts inside Tulak Hord's tomb, you will find them in the antechamber, the machine vault and the archives."
"Louise, the lucky last. Lord Kahn has found a cave system leading to a rediscovered tomb in the valley. He requires help exploring it. You'll find him in his office on the second floor." Putting the datapad down, he looked back up at the gathered acolytes. "You all know your trials. Again, you only have two months. Now get out of my sight, and take the corpse with you."
Ffon was the first out the door, obviously not wanting to help take care of the body. Louise, feeling somewhat responsible for the brutal death of Gerr, stayed behind with the twins to take it away. The pinkette had no idea what to do with the body. Really, she had no idea what the Sith did with their dead, but the theories that ran through her head at that moment made her hesitant to ask a nearby Sith. Instead, she took the body out of the Academy and off to an area where they could properly dispose of it.
Soon, the twins and their pink leader arrived at a secluded alcove where Louise ordered the body to be placed.
"You're not just going to leave him to the animals, are you?" Asked one of the Twins, concerned.
Louise shook her head, "Of course, not. I wanted to give him a proper send-off." She explained, "Cremation seems like the better option anyway."
"Sorry. Is this what a funeral is like?" One of them asked.
"You haven't been to a funeral?" She replied shocked.
"No. When our mother died, she was just tossed away." They replied, in a tone that suggested it was the norm for them.
In that moment, Louise remembered that they too were slaves, and had it worse than she ever had. "I suppose this is a funeral." She answered softly, positioning the acolyte into a respectable position, moving his training blade to the centre of his chest with the arms holding it in place. She knew how burial rites worked in the Empire and the Sith, but knew that neither of those would be suitable for the young acolyte. "have any of you progressed with fire manipulation?" she asked the pair.
"Kind of." Wydr answered, "We can manipulate it to a degree."
"But we have had no luck with generating a flame." The other finished.
"It doesn't matter, you will only need that," Louise replied, creating a simple spark with Force Lightning to quickly start a small flame. Splitting the small orb of fire in half, she handed them to the twins, "If you can, try and make them as big as you can."
Following her instructions, the twins made fireballs of varying sizes. It was obvious that Balek had more skill with it as his was the size of his head, whereas his brothers was a fraction of the size. Louise then asked the twins to combine the fireballs with her own and lower it down onto Gerr's corpse.
As the flames began to eat away at the dead acolyte, Louise began reciting the Sith Code, thinking it would fit the occasion, "Peace is a Lie, there is only Passion."
However, before she could get to the second verse, Wydr continued for her, "Through Passion, I gain Strength."
"Through Strength, I gain Power," His brother said, picking up from where he left off.
"Through Power, I gain Victory," said Louise.
"Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall set me free." The three acolyte finished in unison.
Once they finished the Code, the fell into a mournful silence until the body was nothing but ash; something that happened quicker with the use of the Force. Once that happened, they left. The twins were the first to leave, letting Louise deal with the flames. But the only thing on her mind once the brothers left, was that there was only four left. Me, Ffon, Wydr and Balek… who will die next?
On that sour note, Louise left to go see if her roommate could cheer her up.
...
['O Derithir, O Derithir, wherefore art thou Derithir?'] called the holographic image of a female Zabrak donned in Jedi attire, of to the bustling cityscape of Coruscant, ['Deny thy name and refuse thy rank; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Jedi.']
Just out of view, a being who's featured were obscured by a black hood listened into the Jedi's inner turmoil. ['Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?'] he whispered.
Ignorant of the shrouded being out of view, the Jedi continued to complain to the impassive city, ['Tis but thy name that is my enemy: Thou art thyself, though not a Sith. What's a Sith? It is nor hand nor foot, nor arm nor face, nor any other part belonging to a being…']
When Louise came to Lyira to be cheered up, the pureblood had first consoled her about the death of the Acolyte, then offered to watch a holodrama with her, just as they had talked about the night previous. The pinkette had agreed, hoping to see something nice and awe inspiring. What she got was a romantic tragedy: Derithir and Hirient. The prologue seemed interesting enough, a story about two people, a Jedi and a Sith, who fall in love. There was even a fight scene in the beginning. But it became rather tragic as the 'movie' continued.
As it progressed, Louise's mind drifted off to how her homeworld would react to such a play, especially the nobility as blood feuds, while not common, existed. Silently she snorted at the idea of an adaptation between her family and Kirche's. Then again, it might happen eventually. A traitorous part of her mind said.
By the end of the holofilm, the pinkette would have to say that her friend was absolutely terrible at trying to cheer her up. A tragic ending with both the main characters committing suicide because one thought the other was dead. Lyira, while having seen the holomovie before, still reacted badly at that point. Not that Louise faired any better, it being the first time she had seen it. "So, how was that for your first holodrama?" the pureblood asked, turning off the holoprojector.
"It was wonderfully made," The petite human replied, wiping the wetness from her eyes, "Better than the plays I had seen with my family…"
"I can smell a 'but' coming along." Said Lyira.
"Yes, well." Louise began, "I was hoping for something to cheer me up. Not make me want to go and stab myself with a sharp implement. Not that Harkun would mind." She added bitterly.
"Oh, cheer up." Comforted the pureblood.
"I would, but I just watched that." The pinkette said, gesturing to the holoprojector.
"Fine, you want to watch a film to cheer you up?" the Sith asked, "How about an action vid."
Louise considered it for a moment before nodding in agreement, "Action sounds nice."
"Well, off the top of my head…" Lyira began, "Revan and the Mandalorian wars; loosely based on the actual event. Traces the story of Revan before he became a Sith Lord.
"Dead Experiments; a genetics research base creates something that should not have been created and it starts killing people. A bit more horror than you might want, but still.
"Visitor; a republic transport carrying a Sithspawn crashes down on the planet. The only survivors are a Jedi and the Sithspawn. The native species and the Jedi must work together to stop the creature from killing everyone."
Louise considered her options for a moment before saying, "Dead Experiments does sound interesting, but I am not too sure about the horror aspect. I would have to say, Visitor."
"Visitor it is then!" Lyira replied enthusiastically.
"Yes, but after that, I wouldn't mind going to see about my trial," Louise warned.
...
Four movies. Each roughly around two hours long, adding up to an approximation of eight hours. That was how much time had passed and Louise was barely conscious. Part of her realised that she should have already gone and seen Lord Kahn about her trial. Part of her wanted to watch another movie. Part of her was enjoying the pillow she had unknowingly made out of her sleeping roommate. And the majority of her was unconscious.
Absently, the petite girl shifted around, trying to get comfortable, however, it had the unwarranted effect of waking her roommate. Half-lidded green eyes drowsily looked around the room; the last thing she had remembered was Louise pleading with her to watch another movie, then nothing. The movie they chose was not even a good one, an adaptation of a sappy romance novel.
"Lou?" Lyira called, looking down at the semi-conscious being snuggling into her, "Lou, wake up." The pinkette did not wake, only continuing to shift. "Louise, move… I-I can't feel my arm."
This time, the pinkette did respond. Shifting once again, Louise's kneaded her head into the softest part of the pillow, mumbling, "Cattleya, avez-vous obtenu plus petit?"
A faint blush worked itself onto the purebloods face, not because she understood what was said; she understood absolutely nothing about what the pinkette had said. But because of where her roommate was snuggling her head into. It felt quite uncomfortable.
However, Lyira did not have to worry about the uncomfortable nature of her roommate for much longer. After a pregnant pause as her sleep addled brain tried to process what was said, Louise's eyes opened and looked up at the person she was laying on. It took a few moments for her brain to make a connection to what was said and who it was said to, but once it did, the pinkette shot up, backpedalling away from the Sith, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she shouted, her face turning red in embarrassment.
"Calm down," Lyira said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "I didn't even understand what you said."
"I am sorry," Louise said again.
"What did you say?" A quiet mumble was all she got in reply. Growing intrigued, she told the pinkette to speak louder.
"I thought you were my sister," Louise admitted quietly, her face still red, "and asked if you had gotten smaller." she continued, gesturing to her chest.
It took a second for Lyira to connect the dots, but once she did, she started barking in laughter. So much so, that she fell off the bed.
Upon hearing her friend's mirth, the pinkette's embarrassment turned to annoyance. "It's not funny!" she pouted.
"Yes, it is!" The Pureblood continued to laugh for a few seconds more before her mouth changed to a sly grin, "Tell me, how big is your sister?"
Louise gave the Sith the most scandalised expression she had ever seen, "Why would you want to know that!"
"just curious…" The Sith said nonchalantly.
"No!"
"Aw, come on." Lyira pouted.
"What time is it?" Louise asked suddenly, wanting to change subject.
"Don't dodge the question."
"Go to sleep!" The pinkette said after checking the time on her datapad.
"Louise-"
"Sleep."
"But I just woke up…" The red woman argued, looking to her roommate. Louise's petulant glare told her she would not win, "fine."